Dog Community

Dog “leaking” urine

Posted : 1/21/2007 2:33:30 PM

I am a new dog owner. I adopted my first dog just over a week ago. It is a 4 year old female German Shepherd. She had a previous owner so when I got her from a local SPCA so she was house broken, and has some manners.

However I have encountered a problem. She will be lying next to me or other family members (she follows us everywhere) and when she gets up to stretch or move around her fur will be dripping with urine.

I don't have any idea why she is doing this. I have been home all week on vacation and have taken her out regularly (she will whimper or scratch at the door when she wants to go out side for a potty break). She doesn't squat down and urinate like when she is outside, she will just be laying on he stomach or side when she does it, and we don't know when it happens until she gets up or we smell it.

The SPAC we got her from never mentioned any problems and said she had no medical issues (though the people there seemed less then dedicated…) Though I have had her for a little over a week it seems like only the past few days she has been doing it. Any advice or if you know why she might be doing this would be a big help. I plan to call our vet tomorrow but I would like to know before then what might be wrong.

Stef w

Posted : 1/21/2007 2:47:28 PM

I am by no means knowledgeable in any way - but this is a common problem with female dobermans so I've seen it come up often on the dobe board that I read...

Urine incontinence not uncommon in females from what I understand.

[linkhttp://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_urinary_incontinence.html]http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_urinary_incontinence.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/incont.asp]http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/incont.asp[/link]

It can be urinary tract infections but it can also result from the spaying surgery.

I would have her checked for an infection first and then talk to your vet about options if it is just incontinence.

calliecritturs

Posted : 1/21/2007 3:15:24 PM

It's likely spay incontinence, altho if you've ONLY Noticed it recently then have you seen her drink a lot of water? Particularly if she's just come in from peeing outside? If the urine is extremely dilute it can be tough to diagnose a UTI -- but ask for the vet to TRY antibiotics first. You don't want to put her on a spay incontinence drug (and there are more than one) if that's just a UTI.

She's literally 'leaking' and may not know she is, nor that she has a full bladder. Watch her outside carefully -- does she try to go several times -- or just once? Make sure she's encouraged to 'finish' -- be patient and let her finish and not get distracted. For now you may want to see if you can get her to go out more frequently.

Spay incontinence is inconvenient but it can be dealt with ... both with pharmaceuticals and with some herbals, whatever your preference is -- but don't diagnose this yourself -- DO have a vet look at her, and if you'd rather treat herbally then give a good holistic vet a try.

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 1/21/2007 4:22:55 PM

I'd take her to a vet anyway. I'm hoping that she saw some kind of vet while she was with the SPCA. It's probably a good idea to take her to your vet anyway she can meet your new kid. It could be a UTI or spay incontenence. Being @ the SPCA is a very stressful situation for anyone. Stress can lower immunity & any opportunistic bug can jump right on in.

Thank you so much for rescuing your girl. We will need to see a picture of her, you know? [

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XenoIII

Posted : 1/21/2007 5:23:01 PM

ORIGINAL: calliecritturs
It's likely spay incontinence, altho if you've ONLY Noticed it recently then have you seen her drink a lot of water? Particularly if she's just come in from peeing outside?

I'm not sure what a lot of water is for a dog, but I would say she drinks about 48 ounces a day, maybe a bit more. She is over weight (I should have mentioned that), she weighs 105 pounds and the vet said she should be about 25 lighter. She usually drinks some water after coming inside, but not too much.

ORIGINAL: calliecritturs
Watch her outside carefully -- does she try to go several times -- or just once?

She usually only goes once when outside, even on long walks.

ORIGINAL: gradyupmybutt
It's probably a good idea to take her to your vet anyway she can meet your new kid.

I took her to the vet on Wednesday but I didn't mention the problem (she didn't really show signs then).

ORIGINAL: gradyupmybutt We will need to see a picture of her, you know?

I'll get right on that.

calliecritturs

Posted : 1/21/2007 5:26:13 PM

That's a LOT of water -- UTI!!!!!! When they pee it burns with a uti (ever had one?? serious question -- if you haven't you can't even imagine!) and a lot of dogs get it figured out if they drink MORE it will burn LESS (dilute it!!). I have three dogs total (total weight about 80 pounds) and the three together drink about 1/3 of that.

XenoIII

Posted : 1/21/2007 5:46:31 PM

ORIGINAL: calliecritturs

That's a LOT of water -- UTI!!!!!! When they pee it burns with a uti (ever had one?? serious question -- if you haven't you can't even imagine!) and a lot of dogs get it figured out if they drink MORE it will burn LESS (dilute it!!). I have three dogs total (total weight about 80 pounds) and the three together drink about 1/3 of that.

Upon closer inspection with family members it might be closer to 64 ounces...

Joyce Dozier

Posted : 1/21/2007 6:32:24 PM

The SPCA only knows what they are told by the people who brought her in. There can be various reasons, but those people do want the dog to be deemed "adoptable" and therefore they want him/her to seem healthy. It could be a behavioral problem, but until you have her checked by a vet it would be unwise to assume that it is. If the vet doesn't find anything, I'm sure there are other people who much better than I know what behavioral problems could be causing it. I've only had to deal with involuntary urination in older dogs.

marynh

Posted : 1/21/2007 6:46:27 PM

take a fresh urine sample into the vet with you. They'll check it and rule out a UTI. If it is they'll prescribe antibiotics.
If not they may suggest you try a product to help with incontinence.
We went through all this with our previous Shepherd. It was usually a UTI although as she grew older she got to mix spay incontinence into the mix.
Good luck with her - she sounds like a sweetie

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:00:52 PM

I can't wait to see pictures of your girl. What's her name BTW? I'm no expert but it def sounds like she's got a UTI. No biggie but it's not comfortable for her. Oh, please give her some belly rubs from me.

XenoIII

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:23:25 PM

ORIGINAL: gradyupmybutt

I can't wait to see pictures of your girl. What's her name BTW? I'm no expert but it def sounds like she's got a UTI. No biggie but it's not comfortable for her. Oh, please give her some belly rubs from me.

Here name is Tasha, it#%92s the name her previous owners used with her so I stuck with it. She is a very good dog, but still seems to need more time to fit in to our household. She seems sad most of the time but she is getting “peppier” everyday. She love long walks and playing outside so we do a lot of that.

Here are some pictures

calliecritturs

Posted : 1/21/2007 7:28:34 PM

That is a huge amount of water for a dog in winter ... the vet may want to check the specific gravity, etc.-- but don't get derailed if money is a consideration. Ask the vet to do a course of antibiotics before a lot of major tests are run IF the urine is as dilute as I suspect it is.

OFTEN a dog can have a uti for a long long time -- particularly a dog that drinks to 'deal' with it. However, she was also likely ditched from her prior home for the very same thing --

paulaedwina

Posted : 1/21/2007 9:05:54 PM

I concur; either a UTI or spay incontinence and both are fixable. Neat thing is that in order to diagnose spay incontinence they have to rule out UTI so it's a twofer; if it's not one it's the other. I have an old female with incontinence - I call it leaky bitch disease. She's on DES.

Paula

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 1/21/2007 9:46:03 PM

OMG! She's a cutie! I have a very soft spot in my heart for GSDs & their mixes. My heart girl was a GSD cross. She had spay incontenence. I at first had her on some homeopathic remedy but that was out of my budget so I ended up putting her on DES. It worked really well until she got old & leaky.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 1/22/2007 11:30:13 AM

That's a LOT of water -- UTI!!!!!! When they pee it burns with a uti (ever had one?? serious question -- if you haven't you can't even imagine!) and a lot of dogs get it figured out if they drink MORE it will burn LESS (dilute it!!). I have three dogs total (total weight about 80 pounds) and the three together drink about 1/3 of that.

Most people feed kibble, though. Their dogs would drink more than our dogs do, right? 64 ounces *still* sounds like a whole lot, but 48 for a 105 pound, kibble fed dog didn't sound like so much, to me.